| No. 15-577 | |
| Title: | Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc., Petitioner v. Carol S. Comer, Director, Missouri Department of Natural Resources |
| Docketed: | November 5, 2015 |
| Linked with 16A78 | |
| Lower Ct: | United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit |
| Case Numbers: | (14-1382) |
| Decision Date: | May 29, 2015 |
| Rehearing Denied: | August 11, 2015 |
| Questions Presented | |
| Date | Proceedings and Orders |
| Nov 04 2015 | Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due December 7, 2015) |
| Dec 03 2015 | Consent to the filing of amicus curiae briefs, in support of either party or of neither party, received from counsel for petitioner. |
| Dec 07 2015 | Brief amici curiae of Association of Christian Schools International, and Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod filed. |
| Dec 07 2015 | Brief amicus curiae of The American Center for Law & Justice filed. |
| Dec 07 2015 | Brief amici curiae of Nevada, et al. filed. |
| Dec 07 2015 | Brief of respondent Sara Parker Pauley, Director, Missouri Department of Natural Resources in opposition filed. |
| Dec 07 2015 | Brief amicus curiae of Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission filed. |
| Dec 07 2015 | Brief amicus curiae of Foundation for Moral Law filed. (Distributed) |
| Dec 18 2015 | Reply of petitioner Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. filed. |
| Dec 22 2015 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of January 8, 2016. |
| Jan 11 2016 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of January 15, 2016. |
| Jan 15 2016 | Petition GRANTED. |
| Feb 09 2016 | The time to file the joint appendix and petitioner's brief on the merits is extended to and including April 14, 2016. |
| Feb 09 2016 | The time to file respondent's brief on the merits is extended to and including June 28, 2016. |
| Mar 17 2016 | Consent to the filing of amicus curiae briefs, in support of either party or of neither party, received from counsel for the petitioner. |
| Apr 14 2016 | Joint appendix filed. (Statement of costs filed.) |
| Apr 14 2016 | Brief of petitioner Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. filed. |
| Apr 18 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of World Vision, Inc. filed. |
| Apr 19 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of The American Center for Law & Justice filed. |
| Apr 20 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America filed. |
| Apr 20 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of Justice and Freedom Fund filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of American Jewish Committee in support of neither party filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amici curiae of Association of Christian Schools International, and Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of The Bronx Household of Faith filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of American Association of Christian Schools filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amici curiae of Members of Congress filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amici curiae of Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, et al. filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of Institute for Justice filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amici curiae of Douglas County School District, et al. filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of National Association of Evangelicals filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of Pacific Legal Foundation filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amici curiae of Nevada, et al. filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of The General Council of the Assemblies of God filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of Belmont Abbey College filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amici curiae of Law and Religion Practitioners filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of The Cato Institute filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amici curiae of Christian Legal Society, et al. filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of Colorado filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amici curiae of United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, et al. filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amici curiae of Liberty Counsel, et al. filed. |
| Apr 21 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of WallBuilders, Inc. filed. |
| Jun 28 2016 | Brief of respondent Sara Parker Pauley, Director, Missouri Department of Natural Resources filed. |
| Jul 05 2016 | Brief amici curiae of American Civil Liberties Union, et al. filed. |
| Jul 05 2016 | Brief amici curiae of Religious and Civil Rights Organizations filed. |
| Jul 05 2016 | Brief amici curiae of Legal and Religious Historians filed. |
| Jul 05 2016 | Brief amici curiae of Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and General Synod of The United Church of Christ filed. |
| Jul 05 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. filed. |
| Jul 05 2016 | Brief amicus curiae of The National Education Association filed. |
| Jul 22 2016 | Application (16A78) to extend the time to file a reply brief from July 28, 2016 to August 12, 2016, submitted to Justice Alito. |
| Jul 25 2016 | Application (16A78) granted by Justice Alito extending the time to file until August 12, 2016. |
| Aug 12 2016 | Reply of petitioner Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. filed. |
| Feb 17 2017 | SET FOR ARGUMENT ON Wednesday, April 19, 2017. |
| Feb 24 2017 | Record requested from the U.S.C.A. 8th Circuit. |
| Mar 02 2017 | Record received from the U.S.C.A. 8th Circuit (1 box). |
| Mar 02 2017 | CIRCULATED. |
| Apr 14 2017 | Request from the Clerk that the parties submit their views on whether this case is affected by the press release relating to access to Missouri grant programs issued by Governor Greitens on April 13, 2017. The parties' views should be in the form of a letter delivered to the Court and served upon counsel by noon on Tuesday, April 18, 2017. |
| Apr 18 2017 | Letter of petitioner pursuant to April 14, 2017 request of Clerk filed. (Distributed) |
| Apr 18 2017 | Letter of respondent pursuant to April 14, 2017 request of Clerk filed. (Distributed) |
| Apr 19 2017 | Argued. For petitioner: David A. Cortman, Lawrenceville, Ga. For respondent: James R. Layton, Jefferson City, Mo. |
| Jun 26 2017 | Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Roberts, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court, except as to footnote 3. Kennedy, Alito, and Kagan, JJ., joined that opinion in full, and Thomas and Gorsuch, JJ., joined except as to footnote 3. Thomas, J., filed an opinion concurring in part, in which Gorsuch, J., joined. Gorsuch, J., filed an opinion concurring in part, in which Thomas, J., joined. Breyer, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment. Sotomayor, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Ginsburg, J., joined. |
| Jul 28 2017 | JUDGMENT ISSUED. |
| Aug 07 2017 | Record from the U.S.C.A. for the Eight Circuit has been returned. |
| NAME | ADDRESS | PHONE |
| Attorneys for Petitioner | ||
| David A. Cortman Counsel of Record | Alliance Defending Freedom 440 1st Street N.W., Suite 600 Washington, DC 20001 dcortman@adflegal.org | (202) 393-8690 |
| Party name: Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. | ||
| Attorneys for Respondent | ||
| James R. Layton Counsel of Record | Tueth Keeney Cooper Mohan Jackstadt P.C. 34 N. Meramec Ave., Suite 600 St. Louis, MO 63105 jlayton@tuethkeeney.com | (314) 880-3619 |
| Party name: Carol S. Comer, Director, Missouri Department of Natural Resources | ||
| James R. Layton | Solicitor General Office of the Attorney General P. O. Box 899 Jefferson City, MO 65102 james.layton@ago.mo.gov | (573) 751-1800 |
| Party name: Carol S. Comer, Director, Missouri Department of Natural Resources | ||
| Other | ||
| Michael E. Bindas | Institute for Justice 10500 N.E. 8th Street Suite 1760 Bellevue, WA 98004 mbindas@ij.org | (425) 646-9300 |
| Party name: Institute for Justice | ||
| Paul D. Clement | Kirkland & Ellis LLP 655 Fifteenth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20005 paul.clement@kirkland.com | (202) 879-5000 |
| Party name: Douglas County School District, et al. | ||
| Kimberlee Wood Colby | Christian Legal Society 8001 Braddock Rd., Suite 302 Springfield, VA 22151 kcolby@clsnet.org | (703) 894-1087 |
| Party name: Christian Legal Society, et al. | ||
| Douglas R. Cox | Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP 1050 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036-5306 dcox@gibsondunn.com | (202) 530-9539 |
| Party name: Association of Christian Schools International, et al. | ||
| Nathan J Diament | Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 820 First Street, NE Washington, DC 20002 ouadc@ou.org | (202) 513-6484 |
| Party name: The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America | ||
| John A. Eidsmoe | Foundation for Moral Law One Dexter Avenue Montgomery, AL 36104 eidsmoeja@juno.com | (334) 262-1245 |
| Party name: Foundation for Moral | ||
| Steven W. Fitschen | The National Legal Foundation 2224 Virginia Beach Blvd. Suite 204 Virginia Beach, VA 23454 nlf@nlf.net | (757)-463-6133 |
| Party name: WallBuilders, Inc. | ||
| Michael Lee Francisco | MRDLaw 3301 West Clyde PLace Denver, CO 80211 michael.francisco@mrd.law | (303) 325-7843 |
| Party name: Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission | ||
| Jared O. Freedman | Jenner & Block LLP 1099 New York Avenue, NW Suite 900 Washington, DC 20001 jfreedman@jenner.com | (202)-639-6000 |
| Party name: American Civil Liberties Union, et al. | ||
| Mark F. Hearne II. | Arent Fox LLP 112 S. Hanley Rd., Suite 200 Clayton, MO 63105 thor@arentfox.com | (314) 296-4000 |
| Party name: National Association 0f Evangelicals | ||
| James L. Hirsen | 505 S. Villa Real Drive Suite 208 Anaheim Hills, CA 92807 hirsen@earthlink.net | (714) 283-8880 |
| Party name: Justice and Freedom Fund | ||
| K. Hollyn Hollman | Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty 200 Maryland Ave. NE. Washington, DC 20002 | (202) 544-4226 |
| Party name: Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and General Synod of The United Church of Christ | ||
| Meriem L. Hubbard | Pacific Legal Foundation 930 G Street Sacramento, CA 95814 mlh@pacificlegal.org | (916) 419-7111 |
| Party name: Pacific Legal Foundation | ||
| Joseph J. LoBue | Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson 801 17th Street, NW Washington, DC 20006 Joseph.LoBlue@friedfrank.com | (202)-639-7000 |
| Party name: Belmont Abbey College | ||
| C. Kevin Marshall | Jones Day 51 Louisiana Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20001 ckmarshall@jonesday.com | (202) 879-3939 |
| Party name: Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance | ||
| Matthew T. Martens | Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, LLP 1875 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20006 matthew.martens@wilmerhale.com | (202) 663-6000 |
| Party name: American Associationof Christian Schools | ||
| Eric D. McArthur | Sidley Austin LLP 1501 K Street NW Washington, DC 20005 emcarthur@sidley.com | (202) 736-8000 |
| Party name: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, et al. | ||
| Michael W. McConnell | 559 Nathan Abbott Way Stanford, CA 94305 mcconnell@law.stanford.edu | (650) 736-1326 |
| Party name: The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty | ||
| Douglas B. Mishkin | Venable LLP 575 7th Street, NW Washington, DC 20004 dbmishkin@venable.com | (202) 344-4000 |
| Party name: Legal and Religious Historians | ||
| Andrew J. Pincus | Mayer Brown LLP 1999 K Street, NW Washington, DC 20006 apincus@mayerbrown.com | (202) 263-3000 |
| Party name: Religious and Civil Rights Organizations | ||
| Darryl P. Rains | 755 Page Mill Road Palo Alto, CA 94304 DRains@mofo.com | (650) 813-5600 |
| Party name: The General Council of the Assemblies of God | ||
| Glenn E. Roper | Deputy Solicitor General 1300 Broadway, 10th floor Denver, CO 80203 glenn.roper@coag.gov | 720-508-6562 |
| Party name: Colorado | ||
| Allison Jones Rushing | 725 Twelfth Street, NW Washington, DC 20005 ajones@wc.com | (202) 434-5000 |
| Party name: The Bronx Household of Faith | ||
| Gene C. Schaerr | Schaerr l Duncan, LLP 1717 K Street, NW, Suite 900 Washington, DC 20006 gschaerr@schaerr-duncan.com | (202) 787-1060 |
| Party name: Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, et al. | ||
| David I. Schoen | 2800 Zelda Road Suite 100-6 Montgomery, AL 36106 dschoen593@aol.com | (334) 395-6611 |
| Party name: Law and Religion Practitioners | ||
| Jay Alan Sekulow | American Center for Law & Justice 201 Maryland Ave., N.E. Washington, DC 20002 sekulow@aclj.org | (202) 546-8890 |
| Party name: The American Center for Law & Justice | ||
| Jay Alan Sekulow | American Center for Law & Justice 201 Maryland Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 sekulow@aclj.org | (202) 546-8890 |
| Party name: American Center for Law & Justice | ||
| Ilya Shapiro | Cato Institute 1000 Massachusetts Ave., NW Washington, DC 20001 ishapiro@cato.org | (202) 842-2000 |
| Party name: The Cato Institute | ||
| Mathew D. Staver | Liberty Counsel P.O. Box 540774 Orlando, FL 327854 court@lc.org | (800) 671-1776 |
| Party name: Liberty Counsel, et al. | ||
| Marc D. Stern | American Jewish Committee 165 East 56th Street New York, NY 10022 sternm@ajc.org | (212) 891-1480 |
| Party name: American Jewish Committee in support of neither party | ||
| Aaron M. Streett | Baker Botts, L.L.P. 910 Louisiana Street Houston, TX 77002 aaron.streett@bakerbotts.com | (713) 229-1855 |
| Party name: Members of Congress | ||
| Camilla B. Taylor | Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. 105 W. Adams Street Suite 2600 Chicago, IL 60603 ctaylor@lambdalegal.org | (312) 663-4413 |
| Party name: Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. | ||
| Lawrence VanDyke | Solicitor General Office of the Attorney General 100 North Carson Street Carson City, NV 89701 LVanDyke@ag.nv.gov | (775) 684-1100 |
| Party name: Nevada, et al. | ||
| Eugene Volokh | Scott & Cyan Banister First Amendment Clinic UCLA School of Law 405 Hilgard Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90095 volokh@law.ucla.edu | (310) 206-3926 |
| Party name: World Vision, Inc. | ||
| John M. West | Bredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C. 805 Fifteenth Street, N.W. Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20005 jwest@bredhoff.com | (202) 842-2600 |
| Party name: The National Education Association | ||